playlist: the 63 best punk songs of september 2026

Being deeply into punk music means tacitly embracing the fleeting nature of all things. Bands burn out and break up, people die, and this deeply explosive world where you’ve invested so much of your enthusiasm keeps spinning. That’s why so many of us surround ourselves with records and tapes, old flyers and setlists. Even if the tape’s only three minutes long (“the program repeats on side B”), it’s a crucial artifact of a moment. That Xerox’d flyer tacked up in the hall is hard evidence of the shared community world-building that went into an unbelievable night.

An unbelievable month for this music coincided with me sorting through a bunch of punk ephemera for an upcoming project. It was the month where I published Martin Douglas’ Toody Cole and Puzzlehead interviews, my 1-800-MIKEY piece, Rocco Tenaglia III hanging with Protomartyr’s Joe Casey, Cody Triplett’s meet-up with Mesh, and the new see/saw jukebox episode with Christina from Gouge Away. All that stuff was a collective effort (supported entirely by see/saw reader subscriptions).

Last weekend at a mutual aid benefit show in Minneapolis, all I wanted to do was stand around talking to my friends. Instead, I had to keep cutting off conversations and rush down to the basement. As much as I wanted to goof around and eat vegan spice cake in Billy’s kitchen, I’m not about to miss Tommy. (“My car is too nice!”)

Punk is eternal, but all of its moving parts are ephemeral. Let’s celebrate the good stuff and build something together while we’re all here. These are the best punk songs of the month in the opinion of the see/saw guy.

see/saw’s 63 best punk songs of september 2026

The Etters: Kopschoppen
Dirty Secret: It's Your World
Fugitive Bubble: Lethal Water
Power Pants: That Could Be You
Early Grave: Black Easter
Name Names: Bleeding Out
Full Sun: Living Without You
Twisted Teens: When We First Met
1-800-MIKEY: In Yun
The Alices: All My Love
Unity: Lonely
Eraser: DVD
Retail Simps: Hi-Heel Sneakers
Billiam: Human Body Units
Spread Joy: Left the House
Hustle Culture: New Government Pyramid Scheme
Bed Maker: The Mark
C.O.F.F.I.N: A Place to Stay
Perennial: Baby, Are You Abstract?
Soul Glo: February Theory
I JAM: Refraction
Dicklickers: Tema De Guerra
Grand Final: Sweatin 4 Yuh
sprgrs: llorera anfetas
The Tubs: Hard Life
Kohti Tuhoa: Valmistaudu Sotaan
snout fever: All Aligned
Diyl Tones: Big Shot
Liga de Barro: Ya No Quiero Ser Rockero
Military School: Get Fucked
Lasso: Violeta
The Drin: Body Double
CRV: Believin'
Obamacare: Paranoid
Loose Lips: Looking For
City Slang: Honeypot
Action Figure: Rogaine
EVINSPRAGG: Sick Fixation
Home Stretch: Downward Spiral
Dirty Fences: Expectations
Weird 1000: Something Lovely
Ejaculators: Condemned
ZONGO!: I Wanted You All to Myself
Permanent: Reservorio De Gas
The Losers: Cost of Living
One By One: Culture Vultures
Blood Cannery: Horseshoes & Hand Grenades
S.O.H.: Echo Chamber
HININ: Hyakki Yakō
Day Residue: Gag Order
Brain Tourniquet: This Is Forever
Lambrini Girls: Bang Bang Bang
Roo Stafford: Anytime
Tense: Barbed Wire
Gleetch: Daily Grind
Gills: Mariposa
Science Man: Top of the Chain
Milk St.: Just So
El Cuarto Oscuro: Hacerse la muerta
Nose Hair: Fall in Line
Protomartyr: Exalted Eagles
Woollen Kits: Back of a Truck
Bellringer: Afterlife

see/saw’s monthly punk playlists are free. If you enjoyed this one, please share it around and subscribe to the see/saw newsletter. [At one point I published this with a headline saying it was the best punk songs of August. Whoops.]